This homemade Horchata recipe is so easy to prepare, made with rice, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and water. It's my take on the popular favorite.
Do you love Mexican recipes as much as I do? Check out my versions of Tacos Al Pastor, Elotes, or Tres Leches Cake.
We love to make homemade Horchata at our house because I usually always have the ingredients I need, and it's easiest enough for my kids to do. Plus, horchata is an extra fun addition to taco night. I can't say this recipe is authentic, but it's my take on it and I think it tastes incredible. (Here's an authentic Horchata recipe from Isabel Eats.) Let me know how you make horchata, in the comments below!
What is Horchata?
Horchata (pronounced or-CHAH-tah) is a popular Mexican drink that is often described as a sweet rice milk beverage. Horchata is made out of rice, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon and is served in many Mexican restaurants. There's an important balance to the creamy rice and cinnamon flavors found in horchata and this homemade horchata recipe is my favorite.
How to Make Horchata:
Blend: Combine the rice, hot water, and cinnamon sticks in a blender and blend until the rice and cinnamon sticks are roughly ground. Add the remaining water and blend again. Pour contents into a pitcher or container with a fitted lid and refrigerate overnight (or at least 8 hours).
Strain: Pour the rice mixture into a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth over a pitcher and discard the rice.
Finish Horchata: Stir in the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar (to your preference). Chill until ready to serve. Stir well before serving and serve over ice.
What is Hochata de Chufa?
Horchata de chufa is popular in Spain and it differs from Mexican horchata (or horchata de arroz) in that Mexican horchata is made with rice and horchata de chufa is made with chufa (also known as tiger nuts).
Recipe Variations:
Vegan: To make this recipe vegan, simply substitute equal parts almond milk for the milk in the recipe.
You may also like these Mexican recipes:
- Wet Burrito
- Smothered Green Chili Chicken Burritos
- Authentic Mexican Rice
- Cheese Enchiladas
- Grilled Chicken Street Tacos
- Mole Enchiladas
- Esquites (Mexican Corn in a Cup)
Follow me for more great recipes
Recipe
Horchata
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice
- 2 Mexican cinnamon sticks
- 4 cups hot water
- 2 cups milk , or almond milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ⅓ – 1/2 cups granulated sugar , to taste
Instructions
- To a blender, add rice, 2 cups of hot water, and 2 Mexican cinnamon sticks.
- Blend until the rice and cinnamon sticks are roughly ground. Add the remaining water and blend again.
- Pour contents into a pitcher or container with a fitted lid and refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours.
- Pour the rice mixture through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth, into a pitcher. Discard the rice.
- Stir in the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar (to your preference). Chill until ready to serve. Stir well before serving and serve over ice.
Notes
Nutrition
Follow Me
I originally shared this recipe April 2016. Updated July 2019 and April 2023.
This post contains affiliate links.
I’ve tried several other recipes, but this one is the closest I could find to the horchata that I’m used to drinking, the flavors are light and delicate and it pairs beautifully with chili, enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos, etc.
I’m obsessed with this recipe– the horchata is fantastic, so refreshing and delicious. It satisfies my sweet tooth while still tasting healthy and filling.
BEST HORCHATA I HAVE EVER TASTED
I love the simplicity of the recipe but any idea on how long can it be stored and how exactly. Would be of great help
It’ll keep in the fridge for about 4–5 days in a sealed container. Just give it a good shake or stir before pouring—stuff settles. Hope that helps! 🤍
-Stacy
Ilove this recipe but it takes a while to make the sugar dissolve
Do not blend twice. I followed this recipe and ended up with concrete
Directions were unclear, I was left with a blob of goopy rice after 8 hours with no liquid left. Nothing would strain out even if I added the milk to the cheese cloth/strainer with the rice blob in it
1 1/2 cups rice absorbed 6 cups liquid? Are you sure you added enough liquid? Did you follow the instructions to blend the liquid with the rice and cinnamon sticks? I would love to help you troubleshoot what went wrong!
Very tasty
As many others experienced, I was left with a thick blob with no liquid after refrigerating overnight.
The fact that it worked for some and not for others means the recipe is missing important details leaving up to luck, or previous knowledge to whether it’s a success or failure.
The recipe should be edited to include
I’m sure there’s a good recipe in there somewhere. It just needs some fine tuning. Writing a precise recipe is harder than it seems!
Use hot water as per recipe and the whole thing glugged up. Terrible. Every other recipe says to use cold water.
This recipe is great for the proportions, however you may not like the end product if you follow the steps exactly. If you mixed sugar in with cold milk and cold water, it will not sweeten the drink and will just settle to the bottom of your container. I suggest slowly heating the milk, as to not scald it, and dissolve the sugar in the milk. Also DO NOT MIX GROUND CINNAMON INTO THE FINAL PRODUCT. Cinnamon is hydrophobic, it will not dissolve into the liquid. Instead, store the horchata with one or two whole cinnamon sticks in your fridge, and sprinkle cinnamon on top of the drink when poured.
I made this for my daughter. Followed the directions to the letter. I tasted it first and find it chalky. If the rice should have been rinsed first, it should be in the recipe. It wasn’t, so I didn’t rinse. The flavor is good, but the chalkiness texture is weird to me. After researching more recipes, I do think maybe the blending should have been done after the soaking. I probably will try a different recipe next time.
This recipe didn’t work for me – I followed the quantities and directions exactly and got a thick, dough-like substance immediately after blending the 2nd set of 2 cups of water. I’m thinking maybe use less rice?
I am trying to “fix it” by adding a lot more water right now – will know when it’s chilled if it is good or not.
Amazing each and every time! I had no problemo.